Saw this posted yesterday. Made a card today.
Category: Doing (Page 21 of 28)
I’ve been training for Ironman 70.3 Florida since mid-January, and so far training has gone great except for a couple of weeks of illness. Even then I didn’t miss any of my long workouts.
But…
I’ve been putting off actually registering for the race. Part of the reason is that I’ve had a string of injuries (real and phantom) for the past couple of years and didn’t know how I’d do when I started amping up the volume in training. I think staying away from rugby and all of its related antics has gone a long way in avoiding injuries. Then there’s the money part of the equation. If you know me at all, you know it’s hard for me to chunk down a few hundred dollars for something and not get immediate value for it.
Today, when I was pretty wiped out from yesterday’s workouts, I went ahead and registered for the event.
So I’m officially in.
That’s a commitment to the commitment. Now it has to be done for sure. And it’s easier to get up and train on the days you aren’t feeling well if you think of it as getting your money’s worth.
Luckily, the race is close to home. So I won’t need to also purchase a plane ticket as a secondary commitment.
Now, about that diet…
Deciding who to ask to share their lane.
Our gym has a four lane, 25 yard pool, and it’s very rare to show up there and find an empty lane. If you do, chances are you won’t finish your workout before someone else comes in and needs to share with you. No big deal…I don’t mind sharing a lane. But I’d rather be the one who does the asking instead of being asked. The reason is simple–if I’m doing the asking, I get to decide what kind of swimmer I’ll be sharing with, and who I’ll be accidentally punching in the face. If I get asked, I’m obligated by the social swimming contract to say “sure”, but whether or not I’m about to get accidentally punched in the face is a crap shoot.
Choosing lanes is a little like choosing urinals. There’s an art to it. Today’s swim put all of my lane choosing skills to use.
- Lane 1: a pool walker. This lane was automatically ruled out since the first lane is supposed to be reserved for walkers anyway. Plus, I like to avoid swimming next to the wall if possible. It doesn’t have any give to it when you accidentally punch it in the face.
- Lane 2: a swimmer. Not going fast, but an able swimmer.
- Lane 3: a swimmer. But not a freestyler, a breast-stroker. She was getting into the pool just as I showed up and seemed to be stroking as wide as she could (and eyeballing me the whole time). Obviously, not the choice.
- Lane 4: a swimmer. Going about the same speed as the Lane 2 swimmer.
So the dilemma was Lane 2 or Lane 4. Again, I’d rather not swim on the wall, but Lane 4 is extra wide, so that usually isn’t a problem in this lane. So I watched. Even though they were going the same speed, the Lane 4 swimmer was working harder than the Lane 2 swimmer to maintain the pace. And her form (I may not be able to lay an egg, but I can tell a good one from a bad one) wasn’t nearly as clean as the Lane 2 swimmer’s. Finally, the clock is directly in front on Lane 2. I don’t like to wear a watch while I swim and depend on that clock, so I prefer having it right in front of me if possible.
I chose correctly. Not only did I avoid making contact with Lane 2 swimmer during my workout, there was only one time during the session that we were side-by-side. I must have walked in during one of her rest sets because she picked up the pace with some sprints while I was in the pool. In fact, even when a lane became open I opted to keep sharing Lane 2 instead of jumping over to the empty lane and taking the risk that I’d end up sharing again with an unknown entity.
I need to do a post soon about choosing where to line up for the start of an open-water swim. Note: the decision is heavily skewed if you’ve already caught someone moving your stuff in transition set up and would like to kick them in the face.
Accidentally.
I’ve been doing a lot of my cycling at night lately, and I’m fortunate to be able to do that. The only problem is that riding the bike really wakes me up. I’m typically very alert and awake for at least an hour after getting out of the saddle. It’s like the anti-swimming. And that’s great for morning rides, but when I finish a workout at 11:30 pm, I just want to go to sleep…but I can’t.
If I had unlimited time and access to a lap pool, I’d handle this solution like Elvis–jump into the pool and swim for a while to induce sleep. Then I’d also need to jump on the bike after swimming to get my energy levels back up. It’s a vicious cycle.
Since I can’t go for a quick swim to make me sleepy, could a list of great post-cycling wines be the solution?
I just have to be careful not to partake when I have a workout the following morning…running with a headache is no fun, and even a glass affects me these days.
How to make hard-to-obtain Sudafed from readily available street meth. – I’m on week 3 of a cough/cold. Haven’t resorted to medication yet, but at least this gives me options.
U.S. water bills to triple – Don’t worry…someone will declare it a right since it’s necessarily for life. That will magically make it “free”.
Skateboard Swing – Building this in 3, 2, 1…
Acer Iconia Tab A500ICS updates coming in April – This article complains that the update isn’t coming soon enough. I’m teaching my kids to be happy with what you have. Not everyone is getting ICS.
HTC: Updates to Ice Cream Sandwich in March – This will make March creep by. Maybe I should take out a 30 day loan to speed up time?
Contador loses Tour de France title – Finally someone else will get the chance to be crowned the best dirty cyclist in the game.
Masters athletes keep their muscle with age – “The authors also note that it’s these aspects of aging that tend to increase health care costs, so if each individual continues to develop their muscles as they age, the exercise could channel those unspent billions back into the economy.”
Does this mean taxpayers should be subsidizing my training?
This is a dang good ‘un. Also known as “The Vicious Cycle”, I learned this one back in the late 90s from a sadistic South African rugby coach. For any former teammates who are reading this, let me apologize in advance for the nightmares you’ll have tonight. I know you’ve done your best to repress any memory of being put through this.
The only equipment you need is a place to do pull-ups and a little bit of space. Think of your pull-up station as the backstop of a baseball diamond. That’s where you start. The rest of the stations are arranged just like the bases on the baseball diamond. Home plate = push-ups, First base = sit-ups, Second base = burpees, Third base = jackknives*. Here’s a diagram if you’re confused. I like to arrange the distance between the “bases” at about the distance between bases on a t-ball field. You can make them further apart if you want…that distance isn’t the key to this workout.
Start by doing a single pull-up. Then you run the bases, stopping at each one to do one repetition of the exercise at that station (1 push-up, 1 sit-up, 1 burpee, 1 jackknife). Then it’s back to the pull-up station for the second round. This time, you do two reps of everything. The next lap is 3 reps, and so on. Starting with one rep and ending with six reps is a good way to start. I did it that way yesterday at the halfway point of a four mile run, and it absolutely destroyed my pace and heart rate on the 2nd half of the run. As my fitness improves, I work my way up to ten laps/reps.
And that’s when things start to get really interesting.
Once you can comfortably do the ten lap incarnation of this exercise, try doing it in reverse instead…starting with ten reps and working your way down to one. It sounds like it would take the same effort level to do go in reverse, but it’s actually much harder for a couple of reasons. First of all, unless you are a pull-up machine, the quality of your pull-ups will probably tend to decrease the more reps you have to do. There’s no shame in using a spotter or “self-spotting” by flailing your legs to get pull-ups in, but if you have to do 10 pull-ups on your first set instead of your last, you’ll probably do those 10 better. And at the end, it’s easy to do 3 good pull-ups, so you’ll make the extra effort.
Secondly, you’ll probably find that the sit-ups and jackknives almost feel like a rest in this workout since they give you the opportunity to lie down on the ground. The only problem is, you have to get up off the ground. Starting with ten reps and working your way down to one means that at the end of the workout, when you want to rest the most, you get less and less rest. As soon as you get on the ground to do 3 sit ups, you have to pick yourself back up and run to do burpees.
I consider this a “toughness” workout as much as it is a fitness workout. There really isn’t much of a reprieve at any point of this workout. It’s one that makes you feel like you can’t wait to get to the next thing, only to detest where you are as soon as you get there. You’ll have to hunker down mentally to push to the end.
Then finish it up with a 2-3 mile run and see if you can ever regain control of your heart rate.
* If you aren’t familiar with jackknives, you lie flat on your back with your arms stretched out above your head, then you simultaneously raise your hands and feet, basically folding yourself in half, and (attempt to) touch your toes.
There aren’t that many high profile professional triathletes, and I don’t think there necessarily need to be. But I have a few ideas that could really make amateur triathlon participation grow by leaps and bounds. I think what is needed is the introduction of a team concept, and maybe some rule tweaking.
I think triathlon clubs membership would grow tremendously if there was a really compelling reason to belong to a club. I mean, I like to train alone because I have to race alone. So outside of some seminars here and there, what does a tri club really have to offer me? Training programs? I can find those for free or buy them online. I think I can get more for my money by joining a masters swim group and take a coaching beat down there a couple of times a weak.
But if the idea of triathlon “Club” was changed to triathlon “Team”, things would be different.
What if every race had a Team division, and it awarded points not just for the top 3 overall times a team turned in, but within age groups. For example, a race could award 10 points to the team with the top overall men and women finishers, 8 points for second, and 6 points for third. But beyond that, why not award 5, 3, and 1 points respectively for the top three age-groupers in each division? This would push clubs/teams to invest into the performance of members on race day.
It would also encourage clubs to go out and pursue age groupers and keep them in top shape to earn points for the Club throughout the season.
Everybody wins
Age groupers could really benefit from this type of setup. By paying to be a member of a club, they’d actually get something very tangible in return for their money. First of all, they get to be on a team. Not every age grouper is going to race every weekend, so there’d be chances for multiple folks to represent their club within a division over the course of a season. Secondly, the age groupers could gain a lot of tips from the “Overall” members of their club–that means training and racing tips along with what will most likely be a higher level of passion and intensity that will be contagious.
What about the “Overall” team members? Well, aren’t most of those types doing stuff like coaching and personal training on the side? The top level members of a club could actually be paid by the other club members’ dues to coach and pass along their knowledge. Worst case–they can use the club as a way to introduce themselves to potential clients. Even if there was no money involved, I can imagine some people would be happy to be one of the top dogs in a club for nothing more than a complete or partial reimbursement of race fees by the club if they place in the overall division.
Pros win too. First of all, they’d be in high demand by the more elite teams. Imagine a team made up of a few guys with some real jack…they just want to win. So the pro would not only get money from their sponsors, but also by team members and sponsors to wear their jersey.
Rule Changes
How cool would it be if you were able to draft teammates in a race? Safety seems to be the biggest and most logical reason drafting isn’t allowed, but if it were limited to teammates, that wouldn’t matter as much. I mean, you are going to be much more careful to not cause a problem for a teammate, right? And penalties for drafting non-teammates could actually be increased at the same time to further encourage safety.
This may be a long shot to happen, and I realize that.
Series Instead of Single Races
There are some race series already out there, and they make up their own sort of mini-seasons. But what if there were State-level organizations that awarded championships? Clubs could simply pay yearly dues to participate. It wouldn’t even matter that there were multiple races in a state on a single weekend. Points available at each race could simply be determined by the number of finishers at each race. A small club could strategically rack up points on a big tri weekend by sending key age-groupers to multiple smaller races.
This isn’t all that different from what WTC does for rankings and qualifications, so why can’t it be done on a bigger scale? And why can’t it be across organizations?
I skipped this morning’s swim, and I’m not even going to think about making it up. It’s a recovery week anyway, and I definitely needed the rest. If I have to choose between making a swim and making a run, I’ll choose the run every time. I’m considering even waiting until late tonight to do that, just to soak up more rest.
I thought you were supposed to get better when you practiced something? I hadn’t spent any time in the pool for a good stretch up until a few weeks ago, so I wasn’t too tough on myself for swimming like a fish out of water. But it’s been 3 weeks…I should be getting better by now. My technique is so jacked up I don’t even know where to start to fix it. I just know that it’s bad all over.
Think I may be headed for a masters class or a swim clinic next month. This is supposed to be the easy leg of the race, and I want to keep it that way.
Denso (and others) Plea Guilty To Price Fixing – Coming soon, “Shame on Denso” signs in front of Alcoa Highway Wal-Mart.
Has the Higher-Ed Revolution Begun? – I’ll take advantage of the CS courses, but I’d really love to see a business school offer this type of program. We may have to wait all the way until next year for something like that.
What’s Wrong With the Teenage Mind? – In summary (I think), they need to be taught responsibility and experience in addition to facts.
It’s time for us to get to work. To get busy. My advisors and cabinet members are going to sit down to find ways to help get out of your way. To encourage you.
Re-elect this guy. If we ever elect him.
Whatever happened to: Rucking?
The key advantage of ‘traditional’ rucking was that it produced quick ball. It also occupied forwards who might otherwise loiter in midfield clogging up the pitch.
The game started changing in this regard as my career was ending, and I remember that feeling (we’ve all had it) just KNOWING that the boots were coming after doing something on the edge of the law in a tackle in order to steal or secure the ball for my team.
And then…nothing would happen. Occasionally someone would curse your actions, but they wouldn’t dream of chucking boot and letting you know that was not acceptable.
I do know of at least one referee who was more than happy to have the game become more about him than the players on the field and welcomed the changes in rucking.
10 Things You Can Do to Raise a Reader – On of the most important things you can do as a parent.
Sweden Plans A New Superhighway For Cyclists – Not going to pretend I wouldn’t like to see this here. Privately funded of course.
Federal government debt site – But it doesn’t track the federal government’s massive debt. Instead, it gives them information on decreasing their own debt. Isn’t that rich?!
So Why Read Anymore? – Damn. Just…damn.
Somehow we must convince this new wired generation that speaking and writing well are not just the DSL lines of modern civilization, but also the keys to self-mastery, a sort of code that one takes on — in addition to others, moral and legal — to uphold standards of culture itself, to keep the work and ideas alive of our long gone betters for one more generation — as if to say, “I did my part according to my time and station.”Nothing more, nothing less.
The Future of Personalized Medicine – Can’t wait for this to be widely available. Can I get a GPS add on?
QUnit – jQuery JavaScript Library – Free, and a time saver down the road.
Spotify Free Unlimited Music Streaming Ends After Six Month Promotion – Sadness. Extreme sadness.
I know the general rule for missed short workouts is to just move on without worrying about picking them up. I usually follow this to a fault.
I’m rethinking this a little right now though, at least for the swim. I usually don’t place a huge amount of importance on the swim anyway…those are definitely workouts I don’t stress about missing since it’s the shortest leg of the race by far. This time around though, I’d planned on concentrating more on the swim for no other reason that it provides low-impact time training. I’m thinking of them as heart workouts as much as they are swim workouts.
But due to my inability to buy tickets for weekend youth hockey games in advance, I’m one week into a training plan with no access to a pool.
Long story.
What I’ve been doing instead is jumping on the spin bike and knocking out very light and short rides in place of the swims. My logic here is based on three ideas:
- Swim workouts are short periods at low heart rate, so I can ride the bike for 20-30 minutes at this low work rate without burning myself up and still get the heart benefits I’d have gotten from swimming, even if I’m not getting the swim technique benefits.
- The spin bike is available to me 24/7 and I don’t have to drive to it. It’s no problem to get on it at 2 am for 30 minutes if I have to.
- I’ve never (Ever!, EVER!!!) reviewed my performance in a race and concluded I spent too much time on the bike in training. Ever.
I still plan on abandoning scheduled short rides I miss, and definitely short runs. Missed runs are usually the result of being so whooped and beat up that I legitimately need the rest.
My name is Scott, and I’m a mileage junkie.
The first step is admitting you have a problem, right? It feels good to say it out loud…like a weight off my chest. Now if I can just get some weight off the rest of my body.
I’ve been reading “Be Iron Fit”, and while it’s mostly a collection of the same advice and information I’ve read before, I think I’m actually letting stuff sink into my thick skull this time. I’ll chalk that up to the author’s effective way of preventing the material.
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The mileage junkie aspect of my personality is just the tip of the iceberg of training mistakes I’ve made, but it’s the only one I’m trying to address right now. If you don’t know, a mileage junkie is someone who focuses their energy on racking up miles in training. This indirectly makes you a “pace junkie” by my estimation, and that’s a much more accurate description of me.
I like to tell myself I’m running on heart rate and not feel, but that’s not true. The truth is I usually try to walk a thin line between feeling ok and pushing my pace, and then pay attention to my heart rate…afterwards, when filling out my log.
I justify this by telling myself I’m training to throw caution to the wind for the running leg on race day based on feel and guts. That may not be an altogether horrible idea for sprints and olys, where my biggest fear is finishing with something left in the tank. But for 1/2 and full iron distance I’ve finally decided to give in a listen to what the science has to say about things. In most other areas of life, I start off by listening to science first, but in this case I’m going to blame my superstition and stubbornness on previous marathon training programs that specified mileage and tricked me into obsessing about pace.
I’m generally more disciplined about heart rate zones on the bike during training, at least for 80% of the ride. The trouble is, I end up looking at my computer and getting worried about average speed. Then I spend the last 20% of the ride jacking my heart rate up to see if I can squeeze out another .2 mph for the ride. Again, probably doesn’t hurt me much for shorter races, but it’s just not workable for 140.6.
I’ve done one 70.3, and the program I used referenced specified HR training and runs based on zone 2 minutes instead of miles. Of course, the first thing I’d do is figure out the number of miles I need to run based on “my pace”, then proceed to go out and try to run even faster than that. I ended up veering off of this schedule to suit my own needs. It worked out…for that distance. That time anyway. But I know I’m going to have to humble myself to the actual data and listen to some people much wiser than me to get where I want to be for 140.6.
I will train in zone 2.
I will train in zone 2.
I will train in zone 2.
I will train in zone 2.
I have much more to say on this, but I won’t spill it all it into a single post. I haven’t finished the book yet anyway. Right now I’m focusing on re-wiring my brain before I start training for a 70.3 the way the schedule says. That’s the second step.
Training for a 140.6 in January 2013 will be steps 3-12.
I’m glad this 12 step program doesn’t call for me to make amends.
‘Blue Christmas’ drug bust targets illegal prescription drug sales in Brevard – Big day tomorrow for mugshots!
Tools vs insight – I am Jack’s complete astonishment that Seth Godin can come up with these amazing posts for his blog on a daily basis. I would read it in a box, and I would read it with a fox.
Does Beer Affect Your Training? – I was warned not to read this, but I did anyway. Dammit.
Rethinking the Value of the Brick Run for Long Course Triathlon – And here I was thinking I was bucking the system by doing “rested bricks” on the weekends. Sounds like I may have been on to something.
How to Make a Citizen’s Arrest – Yes!
If Everyone Else is Such an Idiot, How Come You’re Not Rich? – Atlantic Mobile – Great article from someone who is NOT an idiot.
Stop Trying to Coach People Who Shouldn’t Be Coached! – This applies to so many people in so many situations. And I’ve been all four of these people at one time or another as well. I try my best to be coachable though.
Proper Pacing for Your Best Run – I’ve always just used HR control on the bike and tried to build a good run with negative splits with whatever I had left. There are some good ideas here I could definitely use to improve at different distances.
Cuba Libre! – Check out @hungrymother featured in this article!
A Food Label That Actually Teaches You About Food – There should be a “nom nom” graph on there somewhere too.
Apple to Make Remote Obsolete? – Because sitting on your ass staring at a screen just isn’t easy enough yet. For some people, the only exercise they get is lifting sofa cushions to look for the remote.
How to Get a Personalized Financial Plan Without Spending a Fortune – Awesome idea, but not sure if I like the idea of giving up the personal attention. Then again, I don’t like the idea of giving up $100 an hour for personal attention.
Signs Of A Slowdown Are Obvious (In China) – They should probably borrow some money to work on that wall thing. You know, infrastructure and all.
7 Steps for Building A Mobile Future In Your Enterprise
Gmail to Unveil New Interface – Unlike FB, I think something Google can really leverage is becoming a place you live, not a site you visit. This looks much more like G+.
100-Year-Old Man Completes Marathon – How old are you?
Facebook Missteps and Shortcomings – Exhibit F.
Heart Rate Training Zone Calculator – Will have to do until I write one. Which will be tomorrow plus infinity.
Page Speed Online – Woot…super useful tool.
Will the New Facebook Lead to Information Overload? – What he said.
Google Financing Solar Installations – This looks interesting. If the cost is the same as your typical electric bill and you don’t have to worry about the maintenance, what’s the downside? Thinking you could also get your pool heated this way. Yeah…I’m thinking.